Microsoft certification Q.

Raptor · 24 Jan 2011 at 20:20

Hi all,

My nephew has left school and has a reasonable IT help desk job, he wants to work on his certification so he can learn and earn.

He has been offered a package for 799.99+VAT.

This is for.

MCP
MCDST
MCTS
MCITP: Enterprise Support Technician

Does this sound ok, or is there a better route/courses to go for?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

BloomerzUK · 24 Jan 2011 at 20:24

Sounds pretty good IMHO

HaX · 24 Jan 2011 at 21:41

To be honest, that sounds a little over priced, and I'll explain why.

Firstly, there is little merit in doing the MCP & MCDST courses, as they'll focus on Windows XP, which will be being phased out of most corporate environments over the next few years. Some places have already eliminated XP from their environments.

The MCTS and MCITP courses are definitely worth doing, providing that they focus upon Windows 7, and not Windows Vista.

Unless I'm mistaken, I think you'll find that the training provider will simply provide your nephew with the books, exam vouchers, and possibly the facility of being able to phone up a trainer for advice/support.

He could pass them quite easily using the training material described below, which based on what I've seen from many training companies, would be superior to what they offer:

CBT Nuggets MCITP: Windows 7 Enterprise Support Technician Training Videos $499 (£314 at current exchange rates)
MS Press or Sybex Books - £70 for the pair
MS Exam Fees (x2) £180
Total - £564.

You could even add in a Technet Subscription for an extra £140, so he gets licenses to evaluate and train with the OS he is learning!

Raptor · 24 Jan 2011 at 22:15

Excellent, that's the sort of advice I was after.

Anything else worth adding to the MCTS and MCITP? Or is that a good start, I notice a lot of job opportunities seem to ask for the MCP.

Raumarik · 24 Jan 2011 at 23:47

If he wants a job now he can't go wrong still getting XP certs, frankly as larger organisations will be running it for a couple of years and public sector will no doubt run it until a few years after it's been unsupported by MS!

Windows 7 is ace, but until it's the most common OS you have to give XP credit. We have around 1500 PCs at my work, not one has Windows 7 yet and probably won't have until management wake up and allocate funds for it (plus our developers stop developing for IE 6..)

SiD the Turtle · 24 Jan 2011 at 23:58

Hmm I must be missing something, MCP, MCTS and MCTIP are groups of certs, not individual ones. The value of the package will depend on which qualifications they are selling.

All you need to pass the easier Microsoft certs is to buy the book, read it and take the exam, therefore I'd look carefully at what he's getting for that money.

Raptor · 25 Jan 2011 at 07:06

SiD the Turtle said:
Hmm I must be missing something, MCP, MCTS and MCTIP are groups of certs, not individual ones. The value of the package will depend on which qualifications they are selling.

All you need to pass the easier Microsoft certs is to buy the book, read it and take the exam, therefore I'd look carefully at what he's getting for that money.

That was excatly how I saw it. The course details seem a bit vague to me.
I have the email and the certs listed are as previously posted and the qualification will be Enterprise support tech (vista)

From what I can see the MCTS and MCITP (both W7) seems to be, buy the book, study and take the exam.

He is in no rush, so this may be the best option for him at the moment.

He can then look at a more in depth course once this part is done and moves on to Enterprice server etc.

HaX · 25 Jan 2011 at 08:12

Raptor said:
That was excatly how I saw it. The course details seem a bit vague to me.
I have the email and the certs listed are as previously posted and the qualification will be Enterprise support tech (vista)

From what I can see the MCTS and MCITP (both W7) seems to be, buy the book, study and take the exam.

This is how most IT Techies (myself included) pass their exams. I personally also use CBT Nuggets and virtual machines, as simply reading a book tends to be very dry, and doesn't really teach you everything you need to do.

As for XP. I really wouldn't bother. I see little merit in spending anywhere up to 18 months (depending on how quickly you study) studying for it, when by the time you've finished the course, it'll only have another 12-18 months in extended support.

A Windows 7 Cert will look very good on the CV, as would one of the Server 2008 Cers too

As for jobs asking for MCPs, you'll probably see this for the next 12-18 months, before MCTS and MCITP become the defacto standards.

Ironically, I still get sent adverts by Reed (job agency/recruitment website) for MCSE training. This is despite the fact that I am already certed up to the eyeballs and that the MCSE is for Windows 2003 (now succeeded by Server 2008).

opethdisciple · 25 Jan 2011 at 11:02

Raptor said:
Excellent, that's the sort of advice I was after.

Anything else worth adding to the MCTS and MCITP? Or is that a good start, I notice a lot of job opportunities seem to ask for the MCP.

If you want to boy to be well rounded and stand out from the crowd, the I would suggest adding to the Microsoft certs a Linux cert and the Cisco CCNA.

Make sure that the Linux cert is recognised in the industry tho, as there are lots of fluffy ones around.

The Cisco CCNA, even if the boy doesnt pass the exam which is very tough in comparison to other IT certs will give the boy an excellent grounding in networking theory and technologies, so those two are defo advantages to have.